TORONTO — Ontario is considering allowing pharmacists to prescribe the COVID\u002D19 treatment drug Paxlovid in order to expand access, the province’s top doctor…
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said recently that the health system will see a “triple threat” of COVID-19, a bad flu season and the resurgence of a childhood respiratory virus this fall and winter.Sign up to receive daily headline news from Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
“There was concern in particular in isolated areas. Where you may not have good access to a primary care physician, you may have access to a pharmacist. So that gap was looked at and I do believe they’re working aggressively on that.”Article content“I do think it is one solution in increasing the access,” he said.
Having pharmacies as one more avenue for prescriptions will enable quicker access, and therefore keep more people out of hospital this winter, Bates said. Moore said about 3,500 treatments of Paxlovid are currently being prescribed each week, noting demand appears to go up as COVID-19 activity rises.